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What's happening in the Twin Cities?

Exhibitors, workshops, artisans, and food featured inside Lyndale Church at 31st & Aldrich

Come shop for your green, fair-trade, recycled, organic, locally made gifts at the first annual "Do It Green! Gifts Fair". There will be over 50 vendors, Lyndale Ave businesses and local artisans. Free workshops, local, organic foods! In addition, this event will be the kick-off for the newly published Do It Green! Magazine.

The Do It Green! Gifts Fair is meant to bring back local shopping with an ecological flair for the holidays, including the outdoor shopping experience instead of a shopping mall. Shoppers will easily find participating locations by a sign and an "eco-tree" that will be placed on the boulevard. There will be free workshops for adults and children on simplifying the holidays, eco-decorating and local chefs offering cooking demos for holiday meal ideas.

Event Description: Let us give thanks to life! Celebrate with
other vegetarians and vegans on a holiday that would otherwise be
quite sad. Let us celebrate our independence and
interdependence. Let compassion be our guide.

Or maybe you're just hungry? :-) If you like Chinese food,
the portions are VERY big. The menu features a full page of
veggie cuisine.

Reservations will be under 'Mark'. Please call me at the given
phone number if you have questions or can't find the group.

Event Description: Let us give thanks to life! Celebrate with
other vegetarians and vegans on a holiday that would otherwise be
quite sad. Let us celebrate our independence and
interdependence. Let compassion be our guide.

Or maybe you're just hungry? :-) If you like Chinese food,
the portions are VERY big. The menu features a full page of
veggie cuisine.

Reservations will be under 'Mark'. Please call me at the given
phone number if you have questions or can't find the group.

I just came back from this. It was really wonderful. At first it was just me and two other people, and then later on one guy who'd been drinking showed up. He was a bit out of it, but sobered up a bit by the end since we stayed for 2 1/2 hours. I'm really happy to have gone, not only because I didn't have to eat alone on Thanksgiving, but also because it felt great to know I had a community I could always be a part of that would accept me. This is one of my favorite things about being vegan - it's stronger community than being Asian or being a woman or being a New Yorker, even. It wasn't an explicitly vegan meetup, but all four of us happened to be vegan anyway, so yay!

I met a groovy woman bicyclist who grew up in Manhattan but moved here from Seattle a few years ago, and is preparing to move back to Seattle in 6 months to start a company with her daughter (who lives in Everett), because her daughter has invented a way to renew electricity (or something like that, I didn't understand the physics behind it). They are working with the people behind the Who Killed the Electric Car? movie. She also works in IT, as a software developer, and is a hard-core feminist and also big in the intentional communities movement. So much in common!

One guy read my palm and it was so dead-on it was completely eerie. He knew so many things about me, and I just met him! He doesn't know any of my friends. How could he know all this stuff? I didn't tell him anything about me before he read my palm, but he knew about my parents, my health problems, my relationships, my sex life, the way I approach things, everything! He even said, "You've had financial difficulties within the last week." Which is true, this last week has been the lowest point. Holy cow. I am totally going to look more into palmistry now. That stuff is not just a parlor trick.

Anyway, I felt like that reading really was an important event in my life. I will not ever forget it. I'm so glad I went to this dinner, when I was feeling like skipping it. Yay for meetups, and yay for vegans!

Unfortunately, Circus Reform Yes! is a little disorganized and I did not get notified of this until just now, and apparently the meeting is tomorrow! That's too short of a notice for me to make it, but I'm still posting it because I know for a fact we have Minneapolis lurkers on here:

Help end inhumane treatment of circus animals in Minneapolis. The Animal Protection Amendment is under attack by opponents on the City Council who are building support for their own circus amendment (which promises no relief for the animals).

Your presence at the public hearing is crucial. The City Council members need to know you support prohibiting wild animal circuses and that they'll be held accountable. They need to know no matter how much money animal circuses make for Minneapolis or how much power the circus industry bears, there'll always be brave, compassionate people willing to take a stand for those who cannot speak for themselves.

Bring your family and friends—anyone who believes all creatures should be treated humanely in Minneapolis—and join us as we speak for the animals. You'll hear testimony from both sides but won't need to speak—your presence will send a strong message. CRY volunteers look forward to greeting you and answering any questions you may have.

Compassionate Action for Animals is thrilled to welcome Gene Baur (formerly Bauston), co-founder and president of Farm Sanctuary, America's leading farm animal protection organization, to Coffman Theater for its Veg Week 2007 kick-off.

By recounting stories of rescued animals who now live in peace at farm sanctuary, Gene will make the case that farm animals—like all animals—have feelings and can respond to kindness. Propelled by eloquent testimony, he'll use firsthand accounts to illustrate how human and animal lives are caught in today's out-of-control factory farms. Just as cruelty to animals can lead to a broader callousness and disregard for life, empathy and compassion can awaken understanding, create hope and give rise to greater awareness of the decisions that affect our world.

Gene holds a Masters degree in Agricultural Economics from Cornell University and has conducted hundreds of visits to farms, stockyards and slaughterhouses to document their appalling conditions. He played an important role in passing the first U.S. laws to prohibit cruel farming methods, including the groundbreaking Florida ban on pig gestation crates, the Arizona ban on gestation and veal crates, and the California and Chicago bans on foie gras. His efforts have been covered by the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, NPR and CNN.

This is a free event—open to the public—to be followed by a free, catered reception and a chance to interact one-on-one with Gene. Academics, animal lovers and anyone looking for a relaxing, fun-filled evening are invited to attend.

Alas, I have already bought a ticket for the Deerhoof concert at the Walker on the 2nd, and can't make this second event, either. But at least I got to hear Gene speak at the Farm Sanctuary Gala in NYC last year.